Hero to Hiro
by The Threat
Summary: Other than continuing my earlier stories, this one will tell the untold story of Hiro, when he waited for Ando at the Nissan Versa.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: unless noted otherwise, all characters used in this story are owned by Tim Kring

* * *

A cockroach, feeling himself king of the world, crawled over a wide open space, made almost entirely out of concrete materials. It didn't think that there'd be anything out here that could, or would kill it. How wrong it was. There was one loud click of a woman's heal, which got somewhat disguised by the squishing sound, caused by the fact that the heal stepped on it directly.

The woman who stepped on it, who was a young blond girl, lifted up her foot to look. She knew that these type of shoes somehow make a woman look more beautiful, but she felt that they appeared more useful as murderous weapons than anything else. Sexy and deadly, as her boyfriend would describe it. Before she had a chance to think more of it, she heard a car honking. She looked into the direction of where it came from. She saw a blue Nissan Versa, of which the driver had no idea of how to control it, judging from the way he controlled the lights and everything. Being the nice girl she is, she walked to the car, trying to talk to the driver. It was an Asian guy, mumbling some kind of panicked Japanese.

"You need any help?" she asked him in English.

Still speaking Japanese, the guy replied: "Oh... nothing's wrong! I got everything under control!"

The girl laughed out loud: "I'm sorry, but it doesn't look that way for me!"

"Okay, maybe I'm not so..." the guy started, but then realized something odd.

The girl saw the look on the guy's face, then realized what was wrong that moment. The whole time he spoke Japanese, and she spoke English. Yet, for some reason, they understood each other perfectly well.

"You speak Japanese?" the guy asked.

"I... well... no. Actually, I..." the girl muttered.

"But you understand me?"

The girl supposed so: "Yes."

"You know how to drive a car?" the guy asked.

"I..." the girl hoped that this guy could understand this right, "I don't have my license yet, but I know how to drive, yes."

"Can you teach me?"

The girl had never heard the Japanese word for 'teach' yet, therefor she didn't understand him at first.

The guy noticed this: "You know, help me to drive this?"

Once the girl understood him, she replied: "I could try, but I promise nothing."

The guy appeared very enthusiastic about this, either because someone can help him, or because he only understood half of what she just said. She wasn't sure which one it was, nor was she sure she could teach him anything. But she decided to go with it anyway.

"My name is Hiro Nakamura." the guy said.

The name rang a bell to the girl. Once she remembered it, she said: "Y... you're Hiro? The same man my boyfriend called for my computer?"

"Did he?" Hiro didn't appear to remember, "I got lots of calls from people."

The girl smiled. She could help him remind of which call exactly, but knowing that it would take up some time, she decided not to. Instead, she returned Hiro a little favor: "I'm Aline."

After about a half an hour of explaining one or two things to Hiro, Aline realized that whatever words she used in English to explain him, he almost litterally understood only half of it.

"Maybe it would help if I drove a little." she suggested.

"Yes, you do that." Hiro agreed.

Aline was about to start the car, when suddenly a thought occurred to Hiro: "How can you be so sure I'm the one your boyfriend spoke to? The names Hiro ans Nakamura are quite common in Japan."

"Oh..." Aline was surprised he'd bring that up, but she answered anyway: "I recognized your voice."

Hiro seemed to understand at first, but as the car got started, he realized something else: "Wait a second! If it's your boyfriend I spoke to, how can YOU know my voice?"

Aline hadn't thought about that. For obvious reasons, she couldn't explain him why, but she had no explanation at the ready either. So all she said was: "It's a long story."

Hiro didn't understand that phrase, but as Aline had already started to drive the car, Hiro decided to shrug it off.

It took Aline about an hour before Hiro had fully comprehended everything she said, or even everything she did when driving. Once they were both certain there was an understanding, Aline felt secure to let Hiro drive the car. After driving for only five seconds, Aline realized she made a mistake of judgment, for Hiro was already about to hit a mother with her child. Just as quickly as that happened, the couple appeared to have... disappeared from where they stood, only to reappear just out of the way. This way, when Hiro hit the breaks, he didn't hit the mother and child in the progress. Whatever it was that happened just then was quite confusing, but somehow it was more confusing to Hiro than it was to Aline, who mumbled something in a foreign language. Hiro wasn't sure what it was she said, but it sounded a lot like the English word 'work', although she definitely didn't speak English.

"Maybe we should try that again." Aline remarked.

"You're special too?" Hiro started.

Aline looked at him surprised: "What do you mean?"

"Are you the one who made them move away?" Hiro asked.

Aline pretended to not know anything: "What are you talking about?"

Suddenly, the people behind them started to honk their horns. Aline made a decision: "Maybe you let me park us."

"Oh no!" Hiro was enthusiastic about learning, "I think I'm starting to learn..."

Another honking interrupted him, so Aline insisted: "Right now, we got a better chance of me driving this without getting us into any accidents!"

"Or drawing too much attention to ourselves!" Hiro reasoned, "OK, I got it!"

He gave Aline the thumbs up, although she didn't know what he was going on about. In any event, she switched seats with Hiro, and tried to get the car parked again.

* * *

Note: the character "Aline" is mine


	2. Chapter 2

Aline was more than a little agitated about this. She did get driving lessons, but she hasn't got her license yet. By trying to help this Hiro to drive, she felt certain that she might never get it. But as soon as she had merely thought it, Hiro talked to her.

"You can make people disappear and reappear!"

Aline looked at him. He was right about one thing, that she can do things, but how could he possibly know any of that?

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"It's okay! I can keep a secret!" he assured her, "Earlier today, I saw a man flying."

In normal circumstances, Aline would think that this man was crazy, but now that she knows there are people out there who can do the most unimaginable things, she couldn't be too sure anymore.

"And I..." Hiro continued, "I can bend space and time!"

"Err..." Aline appeared to be getting uncomfortable about something, "I'm sorry, I need some fresh air."

She got out of the car and inhaled deeply. She hadn't yet recovered from the earlier shock, so if there was one thing she didn't need, it would be a potentially crazy man. Either that, or she was starting to lose it herself, she couldn't be too sure. In any case, a combination of all these things was enough for her to start to panic, so naturally she needed fresh air.

Hiro had gotten out of the car too, hoping he could help her in any way: "Are you alright?"

Aline exhaled as deeply as she had inhaled, before she nodded to Hiro.

"You want to get back in the car?" he asked.

Aline didn't feel like sitting inside a confound space such as a car, but she didn't say that out loud. Instead she asked him: "You say you can bend space and time?"

"Yes." Hiro replied.

In a nutshell, whatever that meant to Japanese standards, Hiro had told her about how he had discovered his powers, accidentally traveled into the future, tried to convince his friend about everything, up to the moment that he got stranded with alone here. While he told her the story, the two of them had made themselves comfortable by opening the Versa's trunk and sitting in it. This way they both sat in the car, but weren't in a confound car.

"How sad." was Aline's reaction when Hiro told her how he had a fight with his friend.

"It was then that the flying man came and gave me ride here." Hiro continued.

"He flew you here?" Aline still had a hard time to believe in that flying man.

"No, he just called his... bodyguards, I think, and they drove him and me back here."

"Bodyguards?" Aline seemed surprised about that, "An important person who can fly? What's next, a cop who can actually see it when people lie?"

"Well anyway..." Hiro continued, "... I thought I could finish this mission by myself, but... well you've seen my driving."

"Yes." Aline grinned.

"When I was about to hit that mother and child..." Hiro said, "... I stopped the time, hoping that I could move them away before I hit them. But... then I saw something weird!"

Aline knew that this was the moment when she would have to explain herself to him, but waited for Hiro to say: "When I stopped time, I saw that the woman and her child had already disappeared partly, while the other part was a few meters away, as if someone else was teleporting them. I didn't know what was going on, but... then I saw a look on your face. It made me think you had something to do with it, so I let time run normally again. That's when I asked..."

"Whether I was special too." Aline interrupted.

"Yes!" Hiro sounded happier than he was only moments ago, "You teleported them?"

"No." Aline answered, "I actually wanted them to be somewhere else when we were about to hit them."

Hiro looked at her in awe: "You can... want... what?"

"You bend space and time, I change reality." Aline explained.

Hiro clapped his hands: "Fantastic! So you can make sure that bomb does not explode!"

"It doesn't work that way." she didn't want Hiro to make any illusions, "Maybe when I find the bomb, I can have it dismantled, or change it's density... I can do lot's of things with it, but I can't want it to not explode. I'm not God or anything!"

Hiro kicked back. For a moment, he thought he had found a way to stop the bomb, but now he had gotten more desperate. Though, suddenly, a thought had occurred to him: "Why are you here then?"

Aline wasn't sure she understood: "What?"

"Your accent!" Hiro tried to make himself more clear, "You're not American, are you?"

Aline still didn't understand: "... No?"

"But if you're not American, then what brings you here?"

Aline was about to say she was just a tourist, but that was an excuse she had ceased to believe herself. Since Hiro was so nice to trust her with his secret, she should be come clean with him too. So she decided to tell him her story, of how she discovered her own powers, later on met with a guy who turned out to be special too,... everything that had happened to her so far.


	3. Chapter 3

Aline tried to tell him as much she could, hoping that he would understand at least half of what she said. Once she got to the more recent history, or the events preceding shortly before. Suddenly, there was something that Hiro didn't understand.

"You... merged with him?"

"No, he merged with me..." she replied, realizing too late that he didn't know the word "merge", "I mean... he crawled inside me... become one with me..."

Suddenly, Hiro understood: "Oh! So he's inside you?"

"Yes. Much like I have been inside him, but different, somehow."

"Like a devil possessing someone." Hiro said.

Aline laughed: "He's no devil. He may not be perfect, but at least he's... well... I don't know how to describe him, really."

"So... his gift allows him to become one with people?"

Aline smiled: "No, it's just another gift he accidentally took from someone else."

"Oh." Hiro seemed to understand, "So he couldn't control his powers immediately either."

Aline nodded: "No, even when he saved me, he wasn't entirely aware of what he was doing. He needed some time to train himself to use his powers."

"And can he now?"

Aline seemed to need to think about it, yet she determinately answered: "Yes, I'm sure he can now!"

"And other than... you... and that power to merge..." Hiro started, "... are there other powers he took?"

"Well, remember that I told you how he took somebody else's powers, so he can use that against that somebody else?" Aline asked, waited for him to nod and then continued, "It was the ability to, as he loves to put it, transform."

"Transform?" Hiro sounded more enthusiastic than surprised, "Like Kamen Rider?"

"Funny you should say that!" Aline replied, "That's exactly who he keeps associating himself with!"

"All the powers of Rogue, and a transforming hero at the same time!" Hiro remarked.

Aline seemed to have missed something: "Rogue?"

"Rogue, from X-Men!" Hiro answered, "You don't know X-Men?"

"I've heard of it, but never saw the movies." Aline replied.

"Never even read the comics?"

"No."

Hiro seemed a little down about that, so Aline said: "Hey, my boyfriend knows about a whole bunch of heroes, both American and Japanese. I think you two could actually make good friends."

Hiro did smile a little: "I am embarrassed to say I don't know any Belgian heroes, though."

"No need to, we don't have any real heroes in Belgium." Aline assured him, "OK, there's this one TV-show I heard of about some blond girl in a pink suit, but I don't think that really counts much as a hero."

Hiro began to feel a little better, which was when he decided to ask: "So, you having... your boyfriend... can I know his name?"

"Oliver." Aline answered.

"All right, Oliver." Hiro continued, "How's that working out for you?"

"It's weird." Aline replied, "For one, he knows enough Japanese to understand you, and through that it helps me to understand you. It's because of that that I even remembered your name and the sound of your voice, although I had never heard you or of you. It's like suddenly there's a new world open for me."

Hiro laughed: "And he even gave you back your powers?"

"Yes, even when I didn't want him to." Aline told him, "So instead, he allows me to use all his powers whenever needed. So in a indirect way, he did give me back my own powers."

"Is there any way I can meet him?" Hiro asked, "Or even talk to him?"

"Meet him, yes." Aline answered, "Talk to him, I'm afraid that's not possible."

"Why not?"

"Because he stopped talking ever since the last time I died." Aline said, flatly.

Having some trouble to fully comprehend this at first, Hiro needed some time to think. Then he asked: "But you're alive now!"

"Yes." Aline sighed, "But he feels a little awkward to talk, especially since he hasn't said a word for so long. It even didn't feel right for him that he couldn't say goodbye to the person who took care of him before he found me. He felt pretty bad about his own... cowardice."

"Despite his power to drain people's lives, still a good guy." Hiro figured, "I must have respect for that."

"Yes." Aline whined, "Despite one or too flaws of his, he's a nice guy at heart. Maybe even too nice."

"What do you mean?"

Aline sighed again: "It's just... well, there's this something he felt he had to do, a month or something ago."

"What was it?" Hiro sounded curious.

"I was against the idea, but he insisted." Aline said.

"But what is it?"

Aline wasn't sure she should talk about this, but she has told him this much already, so why should she not tell him this.


	4. Chapter 4

Denver, Colorado. One month earlier.

Inside a hospital's room, there was a young woman, somewhere around her late twenties. She was unconscious, not yet in need for the machines to keep her alive, apart for the mask she was wearing for oxygen. Aline stood over her, her arm stretched out, her hand being pressed against the woman's chest. It took but a little from Aline's concentration to do... whatever she was doing. The consequences however were more clear. As if shot in the back, Aline got some kind of seizure running through her, which got her to move her hand away from the woman. The woman, who jumped awake, breathed heavily, only just noticing Aline falling to the floor. Much time for her to know what was going on wasn't granted to the woman, as the machines which were monitoring her life-signs had already alerted the doctors.

A lot of confusion is what had come after this. First they examined Aline, but found nothing was wrong with her, so they concluded she merely fainted, caught by the surprise of the woman waking up. However that appeared to have been the only thing to have made sense that time.

About a day later, Aline was allowed to see the woman. When their eyes met, Aline grinned, but the woman didn't know what to do.

"So you're just a fan who wanted to see me?" the woman asked her.

Aline would have answered, if it weren't for the guards behind her. She turned around to request: "Could you men leave us for a moment?"

One of the two shook his head, without another word. The woman, however, appeared surprised over something. Rethinking the situation, she told the guards: "It's okay. I think she..."

"We've been ordered to keep you safe." the other guard said, flatly.

"And are you also ordered to disrespect my privacy?" the woman asked them.

The guards looked at each other, nodded, then the first guard said: "Well be in the hallway, so scream if you need us."

They left, after which Aline breathed deeply, relieved to see them gone.

"You healed me, didn't you!?" the woman asked her.

"Er..." Aline hesitated to answer.

"According to the doctors, my cancer has miraculously disappeared. They dunno how or why!" the woman started, "You made it go away, didn't you!?"

"Well... it's complicated." Aline replied.

"If a foreigner comes here to heal me, I guess it must be." the woman remarked.

Aline looked at her surprised: "How did you know I'm a foreigner?"

The woman laughed: "Your accent is a dead give-away!"

Aline wondered, more to herself than to the woman: "Why didn't Olivier get such remarks?"

That's when the woman was surprised: "Who's... O... lee ... V... A... ?"

"My boyfriend." Aline answered, "And also a big fan of your band."

"But... you're not?" the woman asked, "I thought that's why you somehow sneaked into this room."

"That's what I told the police, but in reality... other than just sneaking in, I don't really like loud rock-music like he does, so..."

This seemed to disappoint the woman, but Aline knew just the way to cheer her up: "Listen to me... can I call you Christina?"

The woman, or Christina, to whom it hadn't occurred that she may have been talking to someone who didn't know her name, nodded.

"Well..." Aline continued, "... there's something you must know first... about your boyfriend."

Christina appeared a little more sad. Aline knew that this would be a tough subject for her, but she carried on anyhow: "He... was special..."

"Please!" Christina interrupted, "Like I didn't know that!"

Aline looked aghast: "You knew?"

"Yes!" Christina replied, "He could somehow, like a worm crawling into an apple, crawl into things and make them do whatever he wanted, like they had minds of their own. He was special, all right, like me!"

"Like... you?" this sounded new to Aline.

"Yes!" Christina replied, "I could change the color of my skin, my eyes, my hair,... even change my own sizes. I can look like a freak, or actually look like someone if I wanted to."

"A shape-shifter?" Aline whispered, "It should surprise me, but for some reason that doesn't."

"No kidding." Christina laughed, "Many make-up artists have asked me about my secrets. All of my so-called make-up effects look too real, so they were all dying to know how I do it."

Somehow, this wasn't new to Aline. It almost felt as though she had expected all this to be true. Or was it really her own idea, and not... somebody else his.

"And you can heal people, I figured that much out." Christina was convinced of this.

"... No." Aline denied, "I told you it's not that simple."

* * *

Note: "Christina" is mine


	5. Chapter 5

Back at the present time, Hiro could not hide his surprise: "You decided to tell her all that? You don't even know her?"

"No." Aline replied, "But it was Oliver's opinion that he owned her... a lot. It was after all from Christina's boyfriend that he took that power to merge."

"Against his will?" Hiro asked.

"By accident." Aline corrected him, "He grabbed hold of him, and Oliver of course wanted him to let go, and... well, that's when he accidentally took his life, and his powers too."

"No way!" Hiro sounded shocked.

"That's when he realized he had no control over his powers at all." Aline said, "So before he'd do anything else, he decided he'd best find a way to control his powers."

"He must have been torn down." Hiro said, "I mean, taking someone's life like that, even if it were in self-defense."

"That's what I tried to tell Christina too." Aline continued.

"And how did she take it?"

"Not so good." Aline sighed, "When she heard me say it, she was about to call the guards into her room, but..."

"What?" Hiro was quite curious, "What made her change her mind?"

"When I told her that I had more things to say, one of them being that she still didn't know what it is that... I did, she decided to wait."

"To wait? That doesn't sound too good."

"It doesn't, yes. But at least it meant that she was still interested to hear our story."

"Our?" Hiro thought he had missed something.

"Mine and Oliver's." Aline reminded him, "Remember, he merged with me so I could live again. And also, once I realized he still had some things to say and do, I decided to do them for him."

"Such as?"

"First saying goodbye to that woman who took care of him, then try to heal Christina, of whom he's not only such a fan, but also because... well you know."

"He can heal people?"

"Not exactly." Aline replied, "You have to think of his powers more as if he were a thief. If a thief took a do... yen from you, then you don't have it anymore, but he has. It's the same with him. He takes things away from people, so he'd have them."

"You mean..." Hiro finally understood, and was shocked about it, "... he's got the cancer now?"

"Yes." Aline sighed, "Now you understand why I think he may be too good for his own good?"

"But... if he has the cancer... and if he's inside you... you look just fine." Hiro was still a little confused.

"If I could have one cent for each time someone says that, I'd be a multi-millionaire by now."

Hiro smiled faintly: "Why? Did that Christina ask you too?"

"Yes." Aline replied.

"What did you say?" Hiro asked.

Aline did her best to recall every moment and every word that was said that day. Once she remembered it exactly, she gave Hiro the same explanation she gave Christina.


	6. Chapter 6

"Look, it's like this..." Aline began her explanation to Hiro, just like she did a month ago to Christina, who at the time was all ears to hear this.

"When Olivier... or Oliver as he likes to be called... when he took my powers, he accidentally took something else as well." Aline explained, "He took my thoughts, my memories, my experiences,... as some doctor would say, he took my soul as well."

"Your soul?" Christina appeared to have a better time understanding this than Oliver did at the time.

Aline nodded: "This way, all there was left of me was a body with a still beating heart, but not a mind of it's own to make it move or do anything at all. To the doctors, I was in a coma, but only Oliver, and by now me too, know better."

"So why didn't he just give you back your soul?" Christina wondered.

"Because by the time he could..." Aline knew what to say, but for some reason hesitated, "... well, whatever there was left in my body that kept me alive was gone by then. I died. So giving me back my soul wouldn't have helped me."

Christina appeared to understand what was going on, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say anything out loud.

Aline continued: "Since he already had my soul, Oliver thought he could give me that back, and at the same time give me his own life-energy to let me live again. And the only way he saw that happen, was to merge himself with me."

Christina appeared a little shocked, but realized something at some point: "This all sounds very... romantic, but what does all that..."

"Have to do with your cancer?" Aline interrupted, "By merging himself with me, he allows me to use his own powers. Also, since he let's me use his life-energy, he's like a dead body living inside me. So when I used his powers to take your cancer, it's his dead body who has it now. And as long as he remains... dead inside me, the cancer won't grow any more and..."

"He..." Christina interrupted, "He just took my cancer?"

"Yeah, I know." Aline moaned, "Though he seems to have thought this out, I still think it was..."

"Can I meet him?" Christina interrupted.

Aline looked at her: "What?"

"I would love to meet the guy who do something like that."

Aline appeared a little taken aback at that statement: "Er... I'm not sure if he wants to get out. And I don't think he has the courage to meet you."

"He risks his life to safe mine and he's not courageous to meet me? You must be kidding."

Aline shook her head: "He's still ashamed of what he had done before."

"Yeah well, he took your soul but you're not mad at him." Christina reasoned, "As long as I keep telling myself that what he did to my boyfriend was an accident, I'm sure he'll be alright."

Aline still thought about this, after which she decided: "OK, wait one moment."

She closed her eyes, after which she was probably using some of her powers. But all she did was change her clothes into Oliver's, among those clothes being that jersey, of which the hood was put on her head. As for the rest of what she was trying to bring Oliver in the room, it did not help.

Aline swore something in Dutch, which Christina did not understand. When Aline suddenly looked at her, an idea popped into her head: "You're a shape-shifter, right?"

"... Right?" Christina didn't know where this was going.

"Then maybe it would help if I borrow your powers for a moment."

Christina put up an indignant face: "Borrow? What do you mean by that."

Aline sighed: "When Oliver touches people, he can temporarily use their powers. So if..."

"Oh." Christina interrupted, "Alright then."

She got out of her bed and walked towards Aline. Aline stretched out her right hand, which Christina held with both of her hands. Aline closed her eyes again, for a few seconds. And suddenly, somebody else sat where she was sitting. It was the guy whom Aline has spoke so highly of: Oliver.

Christina looked at him. She faintly recognized him, as she saw his face, though partly obscured by his hood, just as he remembered to have seen someone like that.

"Oliver?" she whispered.

Oliver nodded, though slightly. He didn't appear to be eager to look at her.

"So you're the one who tried to help me?"

Again, Oliver only nodded.

"I was told that you shot my boyfriend, but..." Christina hesitated to say this, "... as it looks like, you actually helped him out of his misery. I... should really thank you for that."

Oliver said nothing, though at that moment he tilt his head up to look at her. Though given that he's still not talking, Christina said: "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Oliver's mouth suddenly did move, although it merely looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't for some unknown reason.

"You really don't have to be nervous." Christina assured her, "I'm not gonna bite you."

Oliver sighed at that remark. Apparently he had heard people talk like that before, which had come to a point that hearing this has become annoying. Without another word, he grabbed Christina's arm and changed back into Aline, who in turn changed Oliver's clothes back into her own.

"What's the matter with him?" Christina asked her.

Aline answered her question with the same answer she will give Hiro, one month later at this point.


	7. Chapter 7

As Aline was telling all this with Hiro, she suddenly realized something: "You know, I've been having this... weird little adventure of mine for months by now, but you're the first one I meet, who's not even involved with this, to whom I'm actually talking about all this."

"Well..." Hiro didn't know what to say to this, "... I suppose it helps somehow, just to have a listening ear. That flying man I met didn't even want to know about me or my powers, almost as if he wants to hide that he has special powers. You seem to be the only one who can actually understand this."

Aline smiled: "Try and tell that to Oliver now."

"If he doesn't want to talk, you can't force him either." Hiro replied, "If I force myself to much to use my powers, and I don't know where or when I'll end up. Who knows what'll happen if you force him."

Suddenly Hiro looked up in pure happiness. He got up, about to shout "Ando", but then he realized that wouldn't be right, for many reasons.

"What's the matter?" Aline asked.

"I thought I saw my friend there, but..." Hiro moaned, "... it was somebody else."

"You two must be real close." Aline remarked.

"Well..." Hiro hesitated, "We have our differences every once in a while, but at least he was the one person I could always turn to."

"That's also why he was the first person you talked about your powers?" Aline asked.

"Yes!" Hiro almost sounded angry, "He may not ever believe me, but at least he wouldn't make me look like a fool in front of others."

"It must be hard for you to have a fight with him."

Hiro sighed: "Yes..."

"I'm sure things will work out." Aline assured him, "Such things always do, especially when you don't think they would."

"What makes you so sure?" Hiro asked.

"One reason, because you're both in a foreign country." Aline answered, "You're both somewhere not one of you have been before. That's exactly the reason you two need each other. Once that Ando realizes that, I'm sure he'll be back."

"He is taking his time then." Hiro whined.

"Such things always take down, especially if he's as stubborn as you are."

Hiro turned to her indignant: "What's that mean?!"

Aline laughed out loud: "You're an easy one!"

Hiro still appeared angry, but Aline thought he will calm down soon enough. He did, as he sat down again. That's when another thought occurred to him: "So where's Christina now?"

Aline thought she had already told him everything, but since he asks her this, she remembered she hadn't, so she replied: "She's at the hotel, resting. We've had a long day."

"What have you two been doing all day then?" Hiro wondered.

Aline sighed, but answered anyway: "It's all because of Jonas."

There was a name Aline hadn't mentioned before, since Hiro asked: "Who's that?"

"A high school bully, who found himself so much better than Oliver."

"I hate it when people think that of themselves." Hiro sounded angry as he said that.

"You're not the only one." Aline said, "There was a time that Oliver didn't even care about what that Jonas had to say or think about him anymore, so when he was calling him names, Oliver just ignored him."

"He could just do that?" Hiro was surprised.

"Yes." Aline sighed, "But Jonas didn't want to be ignored, so he attacked Oliver. As a punishment for his actions, he got institutionalized. That day was even the first time Oliver used his powers, even when he wasn't aware of it himself."

"Really?" this shocked Hiro.

Aline nodded: "But I don't think Jonas sees it that way. During his stay at the institution, his grudge against Oliver only grew bigger and bigger. And now that he has escaped, he will not stop until he has killed Oliver."

"Why?" Hiro wondered, "Whatever happened to him, he had it coming!"

"Not to him." Aline moaned, "Even if somebody explained to him how wrong what he did really was, he's still somehow find his way to blame an easy target like Oliver."

"And where is he now?" Hiro asked.

Aline looked down as she replied: "Here..."


	8. Chapter 8

"Here?!" Hiro exclaimed, "Where?"

"That's the problem. I don't know." Aline replied.

Hiro appeared to not understand, so Aline continued: "You never wondered what happened to... my life-energy, as Oliver calls it."

"Your life-energy..." Hiro whispered, "You mean that that kept your body alive while you were in a coma?"

"Yes." Aline replied, "I think that that guy Jonas has it now."

This shocked Hiro: "He does? How?"

"He tried many things to get to Oliver, one of them is killing people. Another was to try and read my mind to find information."

"Read your mind?" Hiro wondered, "Is that his power?"

"No, I don't think so." Aline answered, "I think his power is more like... he knows how to invent things, such as a machine that would allow him to hear my thoughts. I think it's through that machine that my life-energy got inside him."

"That's awful." Hiro almost sounded sad.

"Both Oliver and I think that because of that, it created a connection between us and Jonas. We can sense each other from miles away now."

"You can?"

"Yes." Aline answered, "But..."

"But you don't sense him now?"

"It's weird, but not so surprising." Aline said.

"How so?"

A month earlier, Aline had told Christina all she needed to know that would explain what was happening to her lately. This created some kind of a friendship between the two, which got the police to drop all charges they were about to charge Aline with. Christina was about to leave the hospital that day, and Aline was to wave her goodbye.

Suddenly, something was wrong. Aline felt that something was getting closer to her. When both her and Christina made it to the hospital's main entrance, Aline stopped dead, which got Christina a little curious.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"We'd better run." she replied as she grabbed hold of her arm.

Christina pulled herself from Aline's hold, and said: "Hold it! What's going on?"

That's when the people who were outside the entrance got knocked away, making room for someone to enter the hospital, without bothering to open the glass door. As the window's splinters scattered themselves around, both Aline and Christina got to take a good look at the man entering. His appearance was so grotesque, it got everyone else in close proximity to run away. It was Jonas, who wore something that looked like a mechanical suit, likely built to make himself stronger.

Aline shook her head at the sight of him: "You really gotta go through all that trouble just to see me?"

Under the eyes of Christina, who didn't understand any Dutch, Jonas decided to go in with this conversation: "You? You must be so full of yourself. I'm looking for the halfwit! Where is he?"

"You don't need to know that!" Aline replied, as she tightened her muscles.

She didn't really know why, but for some reason nothing happened. Oliver would allow her to use the power to transform, but for some reason that didn't happen.

"What's happening?" Aline asked Oliver in her head. After he replied, Aline asked: "What do you mean, you don't know?"

That's when Jonas's strong arm smacked Aline against the wall. Once she landed back on the floor, Jonas walked towards her. Suddenly he felt someone tap him on his shoulder. He turned to look at who was doing this, only to get scratched in the face. This distracted him enough, so that whoever scratched him could also cut some of the machine's wires, rendering it useless.

Jonas looked up, and saw Christina. She had somehow managed to make her nails grow longer and stronger. She exclaimed to him: "How dare you! To use such a heavy machine on a defenseless woman, you coward!"

Jonas couldn't allow her to win this fight, so he mumbled in Dutch: "You stupid bitch! Learn to speak Dutch!"

Having said that, he pressed on some button on his machine, which got him to vanish into thin air. Once he was gone, Chritina ran to Aline, asking her: "You okay?"

Though Aline needed some help getting back up, she nodded.

"Who was that guy?" Christina asked her.


	9. Chapter 9

"He sounds like a dangerous man." Hiro said, after hearing this story.

"Dangerous is just an understatement." Aline remarked.

Hiro obviously didn't know the word "understatement", nor did Aline know how to translate it into Japanese for him, so she said: "What I mean is that this man thinks that he and he alone is right and that everyone else in this world is wrong. Oliver was just the first who didn't agree, so Jonas thinks he should die."

"What kind of a person thinks like that?"

"He does." Aline sighed, "He has already killed people, besides myself, just to get to him."

Hiro appeared shocked to hear this: "He wouldn't be the one to blow up New York?!"

"Not if I can help it!" Aline laughed, "Last time I sensed him, he was somewhere here in Las Vegas, and Christina and I will make sure he will not kill anyone else again."

"Cool!" Hiro cheered, "Can I come with you?"

"You can't do that, Hiro." Aline replied, "What if he's not the one blowing up New York? Who will stop him if you die fighting Jonas?"

Hiro reconsidered this, then said: "You're right. I have my own mission to accomplish. A hero does not meddle with the affairs of another!"

Aline laughed: "You're quite enthusiast about this, aren't you?"

"Aren't you then?" Hiro wondered.

"I already told you how I felt when I found out about my powers." Aline replied.

"And what about Oliver?"

"He..." Aline hesitated, but continued anyway, "He was enthusiastic about it at first, but... so far it brought him nothing but misery. He's not even sure if he should fight Jonas."

"WHAT!!!" Hiro exclaimed, even louder than any other Japanese person ever did, "He can't be serious! After everything he has done! After all, he has bullied him at school, didn't he?"

"Yes, but..."

"Well then..." Hiro interrupted, "... he wouldn't just let him get away with it, especially since they both have special powers!"

Suddenly, Aline appeared in pain. Hiro stopped shouting, as he lowered his voice to ask: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Aline replied, "Oliver just remembered some of the things Jonas did to him. It hurts to remember, and it hurts me even more to see it."

"See?" Hiro was sure it should get to through, "Doesn't it at all even piss him off to know that he has powers too? Shouldn't that trigger him to do something?"

"He wants to do something, yes. But..." Aline tried to put it as clear as she could, "... well last time I met Jonas, he somehow blocked our powers. What if he could do that again?"

"A hero should not..."

"And what if he's not a hero?" Aline interrupted him, "Ever thought of that?"

"Ever wondered why you people have these powers?" Hiro asked her, "What other reason can there be but to be a hero?"

"That all sounds nice." Aline replied, "But what if that's not the reason?"

"Can you or Oliver think of another then?"

Aline thought about it, then said: "So we got our powers to be heroes, and Jonas got them to be a villain?"

"Exactly!" Hiro replied, "Maybe it's Jonas's destiny to be... I don't know, a dictator maybe. And it's Oliver's destiny to stop him, and your mission to help him in any way you can."

Aline smiled, at the same time she felt something whelming up inside her. What it is, she wasn't sure, but what she did know is that it must be something that Oliver is feeling. It gave her a good enough feeling to stop and look around for a moment. That's when she noticed that night has already fallen.

"Night already?" Aline said, "We really talked for hours?"

"We have..." Hiro moaned, "... and Ando is still not back."

"Don't worry." Aline assured him, "If he really is your friend, he won't let you down that easily."

That's when she got up herself. Hiro tried to stop her: "Wait! Where are you going?"

"Back to my hotel room." she replied, "See if Christina had any more luck finding him."

"Getting back to your mission." Hiro sounded happy, "Good! You do that! Good luck facing him, and give Jonas my regards!"

Aline smiled: "I will. Good luck on saving New York!"

They waved goodbye to each other, as Aline left the parking lot. Just as she made it to a exit, she turned her head to look at Hiro. He appeared sad to be alone again. Until another guy showed himself, who appeared Asian, and wore the same suit Hiro wore. That must be Ando, Aline told herself. At this distance, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but judging from Hiro's smile, she knew that things were going well between the two friends.

**Some say that you can't run from destiny, others say that the future isn't written in stone. One thing that is for certain is that whatever will happen, will happen. You can run if you want to, but one can never escape the inevitable. When faced with it, the only thing that one can do, is make the best of it.**

**THE END**


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